Some (dare I say it) critical comments after watching LEONARD v HEARNS I again....

Have you ever watched a fight again after a long long time, and had a completely different impression of it the second time?

That's what I experienced last night when re-watching Leonard-Hearns I for the first time in years today.

This thread isn't intended to be overly critical of either man. When I made my recent p4p top 100 thread, I think I had Sugar Ray around 14th and the Hitman around 34th, so I rate both men very highly. I think SRL is one of the most talented and skilled all-round fighters to ever step into the ring. I think Hearns is an ATG fighter at 147 and 154, and a weight-jumping miracle. For a ww to end his career fighting at good level at cruiserweight is pretty spectacular, and always will be.


However, there were a few things that came to me as a bit of a shock on my re-watch.

The first thing was: I'm certain I've seen people on here many times proclaiming that this is one of the best fights ever, that it's a better fight than Duran-Leonard I, that it's SRL's best win, that it's one of Tommy's best performances before the 14th round, etc...

Sorry, but I just don't see any of that.

For a start, I don't think it's very exciting nor do I think it is a fight of particularly high quality.

Duran-Leonard I is so so vastly superior in terms of excitement value and pure high octane, high skill, high quality action that I really don't see the comparison at all.


And, crucially, I don't believe it shows either man in a very good light!!

For me, this fight is a bit like Mayweather v De La Hoya where Mayweather fans sat through one of the most turgid performances of Floyd's career, and then after he edged the decision their memories were erased and they were lauding a stunning performance of skill up there with Whitaker-Nelson!!


I am aware that I'm maybe sounding terribly cynical, but I don't think either man performed very well on the night.

Sugar Ray Leonard's performance was bizarre. He was languid, lethargic, reserved - not anything like himself. This can't even be attributed to Hearns's boxing, because SRL was in this mode straight from the first bell. He never exerted himself at any point, never opened up and tried to win whole rounds with sustained strategic attacks, he seemed content to stay in the fight, minimize the damage from Hearns's shots, and once or twice he exploded into life briefly before settling back into his torpor.

A few times Angelo Dundee could be heard to shout at him: "You're blowin' it kid!", which makes me think this could not have been a deliberate tactic, but by the end I felt that it was Leonard's tactic that only he himself had in his mind before the fight. The only way I can account for his lethargy is by thinking that he thought that Tommy has a weak chin/poor resilience beforehand, and planned to conserve energy so that he could wait until around the 13th before opening up and stopping the tired Hitman. You could see how as soon as Tommy was wobbling in the 14th, Ray was waving the referee in rather than just finish the job himself, he was clearly concerned with the time, he wanted it stopped as soon as possible rather than have to hunt the KO.


It seems very strange for me to now criticize Tommy's performance as well, I realize that. He comfortably outboxed one of the greatest boxers in history over 13 rounds and had built up a clear points advantage by the time of the stoppage.

Yes, I appreciate how good a feat of boxing that was. However, that only tells half the story. For a start, Leonard was not actually putting up much of a fight. Had SRL thrown so few punches or mounted so few sustained attacks against any top fighter at the time, he would've slumped behind on points. Now, SRL may have adopted this approach purely because it was Tommy he was fighting and so would not have fought like this against anyone else, but still the point is valid, Tommy was doing what he had to do, doing what he needed to, throwing punches and winning rounds, but to me he never looked flat out either - because he didn't have to be. Leonard was plodding around the ring, looking compact, looking strong, but never really forcing the action for any length of time. Tommy boxed as well as he was made to, but he was never having to fight to the best of his capabilities.

I suppose so far has not actually been critical of Tommy, more a remark on his performance and on the fight in general.

But, and I know this is a well-worn path and a thing which is generally accepted, I really was pretty taken aback at just how weak Tommy's chin was. It may very well have been something to do with him coming in at only 145lbs, but it seemed to me that almost every time Tommy was caught with even a glancing blow, he looked visibly hurt. Any clean punch had his legs going, and when it came to the 13th, it really didn't take all that much artillery to leave Tommy a dead man walking.



For all the hype and allure of Leonard v Hearns I, I think Leonard performed far better against Benitez, and far far better even in his defeat to Duran!! I think Tommy was better against Benitez too, a better showcase of his all-round abilities.



What do you guys think, am I right to an extent :good or was I high on crack when watching this fight?? :rasta

 

I didn't think the skill level was great though. Watch it again but don't think of them as being Leonard and Hearns, pretend you're watching two guys you've never heard of. Leonard is pedestrian and reserved save for a couple of brief bursts of his quality, Hearns is doing what he needs to with a steady jabbing, boxing and moving performance, but not really having to open up and show the best of his abilities. Compared to their performances in other fights in the same period, both are below par IMO.